Red Cabbage with Apples is a really delicious way to transform red cabbage. Baked with apples, onion and herbs until it's fall-apart tender it makes the perfect fall or winter side dish that can also easily be transformed into a main meal with the addition of some vegan sausages.
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Let's make cabbage the star of the show with this delicious Red Cabbage with Apples! Baked up in the oven with onions and herbs, the cabbage and apples are transformed into something amazing. So tender, sweet, tangy and juicy!
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Fantastic as a holiday side or with vegan roast dinners and meatloaf, this hearty vegan side goes great with just about any dish. I love to turn it into a main meal by adding some vegan sausages towards the end of cooking. With some mashed potato and gravy it makes an amazing dinner!
Ingredients
This short list of ingredients is all you need to help the humble cabbage go from “blah” to “wow”:
The flavors of the sweet cabbage, apples and maple syrup are balanced really well with the addition of some red wine vinegar for tartness to give a really well rounded, balanced taste.
Success tip - The fresh herbs really elevate this roasted cabbage recipe and add so much flavor. I really recommend not subbing dried herbs. You can usually find fresh herbs year-round in the produce section at grocery stores.
Vegan sausages are an optional extra. If you choose to use them you can use any type, but I do highly recommend either my vegan sausage recipe or Field Roast apple sage sausages because they work incredibly with this cabbage dish.
How to make Red Cabbage with Apples
Roasted Red Cabbage with Apples is really easy to make and oh so pretty!
Here's how it's done:
- Remove the outer leaves from the cabbage and slice it up then core and slice the apples. Add them along with everything else to a lidded oven-safe pot/dish. A small Dutch oven or similar is perfect. Placing the herbs on the top makes it easy to pick them out before serving.
- Cover and bake for just under 1 hour. The cabbage should be tender and smell very fragrant and delicious once it’s done.
It's as simple as that. Such an easy recipe and it tastes like way more work went into it than it actually did!
Variations
- Pears make a great sub for the apples although they won't hold their shape as well.
- Use green cabbage and apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar instead of red cabbage and red wine vinegar.
- Need a substitute for red wine vinegar? Balsamic vinegar is an easy replacement or you can use sherry vinegar for something more subtle.
Serving Suggestions
Serve this delicious Red Cabbage with Apples as a flavorful side with just about anything, from Sunday roasts, to midweek dinners and make sure to scoop up the delicious juices when you do! I love it with:
Making Ahead & Storing
Red Cabbage with Apples reheats really well and tastes even better the next day. Make ahead as per the recipe or store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat cover and bake at 350ºF (175 °C) for about 20 to 25 minutes. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
Recipe FAQs
Red cabbage and purple cabbage are exactly the same. The colour of the vegetable will always be somewhere between a deep purple and pink (this depends on the pH value of the soil it's grown in).
Red cabbage is a cruciferous vegetable and is an impressively healthy food containing lots of fiber, vitamins and minerals. Read more about its health benefits here.
Recipe
Red Cabbage with Apples
Author:Ingredients
- 1 small head (about 1 kg / 35 oz) red cabbage , thinly sliced
- 1 large onion thinly sliced
- 2 medium apples , cut into chunky slices, cored but not peeled
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 small handful fresh sage
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup or brown sugar (omit for sugar-free)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil , (omit for oil-free)
- 1½ tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp freshly ground pepper
Optional to make it a meal
- 4 Vegan Sausages (my recipe, Field Roast apple sage sausages or Very Good Butchers British Bangers are incredible with this)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 400 ° F (200 °C).
- To a large oven-proof dish add the red cabbage, onions, apples, thyme and sage.
- Pour over the red wine vinegar, maple syrup/sugar and olive oil and sprinkle over the salt and pepper. Stir well to combine.
- Cover with a lid or very tightly with foil, and bake in the oven for about 50 to 55 minutes, after which time the cabbage should be really tender and smell fragrant and delicious. If it's not, give it a few minutes longer. If you get caught up with something it's fine left in the oven longer. If it will be much over 30 minutes extra though turn the oven down a bit to 325°F (160 °C) after the initial 50 to 55 mins.
- Check the seasoning before serving and add a little more salt and pepper if required. Be sure to stir it in well.
To make it a main meal
- If you want to turn it from a side to more of a meal, add some vegan sausages. If using Field Roast or Very Good Butcher's sausages (or similar that are already cooked and just need to be heated through), slice them up and add them to the cabbage ten minutes before the end. If using raw vegan sausages like Beyond Meat style, cook them on a tray in the oven alongside the cabbage or in a saute pan then add them either sliced or whole to the cabbage for the last 10 minutes of cooking time.
NOTES
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NUTRITION
Hungry for more?
Looking for more tasty vegan sides? You'll love these:
Samantha says
YUM - This was super easy! I omitted the oil and sausage - great side dish!
Marie says
So good and I'm preparing the recipe for the third time.
Karen says
Could you substitute red wine vinegar for lemon juice or just omit?
Boston Vegan says
Delicious! I missed the “chunky” part of prepping apple slices, so mine kind of disintegrated, but that didn't matter at all.
Georgia says
Hi Mel,
Could I make this on the stove top, low heat for an hour? Would I need to add a cup of veg broth to prevent sticking?
Many thanks for all your amazing recipes!
Melanie McDonald says
I've never tried it, but I'm sure it would be fine. I would add a cup of veg broth and be prepared to add a little more as necessary if it dries out. Enjoy!
Ingeborg says
A different yet very tasty take on our Dutch rode kool met appeltjes 😊We use cloves, cinnamon and bayleaf so this version is a very nice but slightly different one to add to our menu. I really love love love red cabbage with mashed potatoes and vegan hachee, goulash or stooflapjes (no idea how to translate that one 😆) My winter comfort food for sure!
Alex Eve says
Similar to the red cabbage with smoked meats my mother used to make. Also see Jane Grigson's Vegetable Cookbook. You can add raisins and sultanas which swell and become succulent. I had some sun dried apricots in the store which I added, with yummy results tonight.
Christine Albanese says
Wonderful recipe and so quick and easy to prepare! I found that my cabbage only needed 45-50 mins to cook, but leaving it in for longer wouldn’t harm it either.
Theresa says
Full of flavour. A quick prep dinner. We used the Field Roast apple sage sausages. Great the next day too - right out of the fridge!
Doris says
So yummy. We are not vegan but it was a wonderful dish to create and add more veggies to our table.
Doris says
Just wondering if it can be cooked in a slow cooker rather than the oven?
A Virtual Vegan says
The recipe hasn't been tested in a slow cooker. I'm sure it could be cooked in one, but you wouldn't get as good a flavour as you would when cooking it in an oven. Cooking in the oven concentrates the flavours. For some reason slow cookers make food taste a little bland and with that characteristic slow cooker taste, at least in my experience.
Michelle says
I have red cabbage from my garden and apples... this looks like a great Xmas side dish! Looking forward to giving it a try. Thanks Mel!
A Virtual Vegan says
Hope you enjoy it Michelle!
Patricia Giannelia says
Looks great - a variation on the German stewed red cabbage that I grew up with. It also has onions and apples, and then juniper berries or whole allspice for an amazing flavour.
Also, living in the Okanagan now, I find that the sweeter apples - Royal Gala, Ambrosia, Delicious are so sweet, I don't need added sugar.
Looking forward to trying this version for our Christmas dinner this year!